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5 Key steps to keep young Athletes free of Heat Illness


            With the increase in hot weather comes an increase in Heat Related Illness. Heat illness can be Heat Cramps, Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke. These are three things that can be avoided if you follow the 5 tips we list below.

1.     Hydrate the Night Before.  The night before a long hot day is very very important. You must stay cool and hydrate at night. This will help your body to recover.  Do not wait for the day of the event or training to try and force hydration.

2.     Hydrate the day of. I know many young athletes have trouble hydrating and eating during school. I will make it very simple for you. The average high school athlete should drink at LEAST 5 bottles of water throughout the school day. When I talk to kids I often hear that they only had one bottle of water or a sugar drink before a game. That is not enough. The question I always get is, “Do I drink Gatorade or Water?” . I say mix the two together; just get your fluids in.

3.     Fuel up the day of. Athletes must fuel up during the day. Have a healthy breakfast, a good lunch and a snack at least 2 hours before the game/event.  One meal during the day is NOT ENOUGH. You can’t drive your car without gas and you can’t expect your body to perform without fuel!

4.     Recovery after activity.  Once the activity is done you must recover from it. This means repeating steps 1-3 every day. I highly recommend jumping in an ICE bath for 7-10 minutes after activity or the same night. This will jump start your bodies recovery and help your muscles to relax and reduce inflammation. It will also help to bring your bodies core temperature down faster. This may be painful to some people but it works.

5.     SLEEP SLEEP SLEEP. I cannot stress enough the importance of sleep. Your body recovers while sleeping. Turn OFF the Xbox, Log Off of Facebook, Shut your phone off and GET SOME REST. I have seen athletes get stuck in an injury cycle just because they do not sleep enough.  Here’s a News Flash: Younger Athletes actually need MORE sleep for their recovery. They may seem young and full of energy but their bodies need more rest because they are still growing. I recommend 7 hours at the VERY LEAST a night.  Most of my athletes tell me that they get on average 4 to 6. This is NOT ok. They need sleep. Do yourself a favor and Google the importance of sleep for recovery in youth athletes. You will find thousands of studies on how important it is.

These are 5 easy steps to follow to keep you free of Heat Illness. These are not the only things you can do but, in my experience, these are the 5 most important.  Our goal is to keep our athletes healthy and safe. Following these steps is a step in the right direction.

 

For more information about FLO Fitness be sure to check us out at www.flofitnessllc.com and follow us on twitter flo_fitness@twitter.

           

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